[For the readers' ease – our writing will
be in bold letters; the statements of the documentary will be
in italics; the references in the form of quotes, articles and
discourses given as the Appreciation to the documentary
statements will be in normal text.]

On Rasa-lila

"Unlike
other, so-called gurus and siddha-purusas of his time,
SarasvatiThakura did not allow his
disciples to discuss the details of Krsna's amorous love with
the gopis, although SarasvatiThakura did indeed have
many highly qualified disciples. He was particularly disturbed
if he heard of any disciples discussing Rasa-lila."

Appreciation:

SrilaPrabhupadaBhaktisiddhantaSarasvatiThakura
began his mission with a healthy, conservative emphasis on the
fundamental principles of Sri CaitanyaMahaprabhu's teachings.
Documented evidence shows that as his mission unfolded he
began to reveal progressively advanced topics, all the while
making sure that the foundation, guru-seva and
nama-sankirtana, was
unshakably grounded. It is not surprising then that we
find historical accounts of his wise cautions and
prohibitions, most notably recorded in books of selected
statements by His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara
Maharaja, as well as other statements, admittedly fewer in
number, encouraging his followers not to remain forever
preoccupied with their disqualifications.

The
ultimate intention of the acaryas is, of course, not to
confuse us but to convince us that the higher topics should never be taken
lightly, cheaply or independently. Rather, they should be received
with nothing less than the utmost respect. As Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada has clearly
remarked (Dec. 24, 1969), caution is one thing but "it is not
that we have taken a vow to boycott the gopis."

A. SrilaSarasvatiThakura supported proper
hearing of Rasa-lila

SrilaPrabhupadaBhaktisiddhantaSarasvatiThakura did
not forbid his highly qualified

disciples to
speak, or to hear Rasa-lila from other bona fide devotees. He
must have forbidden beginners, especially from discussing
independently. However, he could not have made a blanket
statement, prohibiting for all time his disciples in general
from hearing appropriately and from the right source.

The
following is an excerpt from SrilaSarasvatiThakura's lecture,
delivered at Radha-kunda during Vraja-mandala parikrama in
1932. The lecture was
printed in "The Gaudiya" in 1934. In that lecture he
gave these orders:

"All these days we have not spoken about lila. But this
is our most confidential asset. This is our only sadhya
(perfection). One should not make the mistake of thinking that
anartha-nivrtti (overcoming impediments such as lust and
greed) is the prayojana (goal of life). One thinking like this
will never enter into artha-pravrtti (acquiring one’s actual
need). For this reason, I will now begin speaking about
asta-kaliya-lila.

"I know
that you are not ready to hear it, but we should know that
such a transcendental ideal exists within the realm of
devotion. Beyond the realm of anartha-nivrtti is
artha-pravrtti, pure conjugal service to Radha and Krsna. This
is transcendental reality. If we do not know of this
transcendental realm, all of our efforts may end in
nirvisesa-vada (impersonalism). Do not let your day pass in
simply trying for anartha-nivrtti. Artha-pravrtti is also
necessary. Anartha-nivrtti is necessary until artha-pravrtti
has started. When artha-pravrtti is present, anartha-nivrtti
becomes unimportant and artha-pravrtti becomes
prominent.

"Those
who have chanted harinama for fifteen or twenty years should
know such things. The beginners need not hear these topics or
they will misunderstand. These topics are for certain
audiences, not for all. Also it is said, 'apana bhajana-katha,
na kahibe jathatatha.' One should not reveal one’s bhajana to
others.' If we disregard this instruction of our previous
acaryas, there may be a permanent fall from the realm of
devotional service.

"By
removing the clothes of the gopis, Lord Sri Krsna
obtained happiness; this is Sri Krsna’s sense
gratification. Suppose one asks, 'Why is He a sense enjoyer?
Let us see Him display the behavior of controlling the
senses.' We cannot ask this, because Krsna is not a slave to
our desires. By His own will He can show us sense restraint –
and He did show it in His form as Gaurasundara. By this
pastime, Sri
Krsna is informing us that
no one has the right to remove the clothes of the gopis except
Him.

"Our
duty is to cultivate devotional service. Do not think that
asta-kaliya-lila smaranam is the property of the sahajiyas.
Actually it is our affair. We must retrieve it from the hands
of the sahajiyas. Our Sri Gurupada-padma heard these
things from SrilaBhaktivinodaThakura. That is why he
used to tell us various confidential things."

Hankering for Perfection

The
following is an article translated for "The Harmonist"
magazine (2005) from the weekly "Gaudiya", Vol. 11,
No. 14 (November 12, 1932):

"In
1932 in the month of Kartika, the GaudiyaMatha
organized Vraja-mandala Parikrama, spanning eighty-four krosas, under the
leadership of Om Visnupada Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Prabhupada. Thousands of devotees from all parts of
India participated.
The first day of the Parikrama saw a grand procession with
nagara-sankirtana, as the pilgrims visited the holy places of
Mathura.
On different days, SrilaPrabhupada had his
followers sing various songs composed by the liberated mahajanas, great
souls. Through these songs, which are full of heart-felt
appeal, SrilaPrabhupada showed that
their example of continuous hankering for perfection (siddhi-lalasa) should
be the sole purpose of all aspirants who have attained the
stage of anartha-nivrtti, in which unwanted obstacles are cleared.
SrilaPrabhupada personally
selected the following songs by SrilaNarottama dasa Thakura for
the devotees to sing:

(1)

harihari! kabe haba vrndavana-vasi

nirakhiba nayane yugala-rupa-rasi

O Sri
Hari, when will I be able
to live in Vrndavana and be a real Vrajavasi? When will my eyes
behold the beautiful forms of the Divine Couple,
Sri Radha-Krsna?

(2)

radha-krsnasevonmuijivanemarane

tarasthana, taralila dekho ratri-dine

I
shall serve Sri
Radha and Sri Krsna
in life and in death. I shall behold Their transcendental abode and
pastimes night and day.

Prarthana (Song
48)

(3)

harihariara kabe palatibe dasa

eisabakariyabame, abavrndavanadhame,

ei mane kariyachiasa

O Sri
Hari, when will my life
change? When will I renounce all worldly affairs and make my
way to Sri
Vrndavana-dhama? I cherish
this hope.

Prarthana (Song
47)

On SrilaPrabhupada’s direction,
the devotees also sang the following songs by SrilaBhaktivinodaThakura:

(4)

dekhitedekhite, bhuliba va
kabe,

nija-sthula-paricaya

nayane
heriba, vraja-pura-sobha,

nitya
cid-ananda-maya

When
will I see that I have forgotten my gross bodily identity and
am beholding the exquisite beauty of Vraja, full of eternal,
spiritual bliss and cognizance.

vrsabhanu-pure, janamalaiba, yavatevivahaha’be

vraja-gopi-bhava, haibesvabhava, ana bhava na rahibe

I shall take
birth in Vrsabhanu Maharaja’s town and will
marry in the nearby village of Yavat.
My sole disposition and nature will be that of a cowherd
maiden.

nija-siddha-deha,
nija-siddha-nama, nija-rupasvavasana

radha-krpa-bale,
labhiba va
kabe, krsna-prema-prakarana

When will I
obtain, by the power of Radha’s mercy, my own eternal
spiritual body, my own realized name and dress embellishing my
real form? And when will I receive initiation into the
techniques of expressing divine love for Krsna?

yamuna-salila-aharanegiya, bujhiboyugala-rasa

prema-mugdhaha’ye, pagalini-praya, gaibaradharayasa

As I go to
draw water from the Yamuna, I will understand the confidential
mellows of Yugala-Kisora’s loving affairs.
Being captivated by prema, I will sing Sri Radhika’s glories just like
a madwoman.] [Only the first verse was presented in
the Harmonist article. The rest of the verses were added by
us, for the benefit of the readers who may not know the
song.]

Gita-mala (Part 5,
Song 2)

(5)

radha-kunda-tata-kunja-kutira

govardhana-parvata,
yamuna-tira

A
small cottage in a grove on the banks of Radha-kunda,
Govardhana Hill, the banks of the Yamuna...

Saranagati (Svikara, Song
4)

(6)

(ami) yamuna-puline, kadamba-kanane,

kiherinu sakhi! aja

(amar) syamavamsi-dhari, mani-mancopari,

kare’ lila
rasa-raja…

O
sakhi, what did I see today! In a kadamba grove on the bank of the
Yamuna, a beautiful blackish boy holding a flute was standing
on a jeweled platform, performing pastimes as Rasaraja, the
monarch of all transcendental mellows...

Kalyana-kalpataru
(AmiYamunaPuline)

"At midday on 8 October, at the end of a
grand festival with kirtana, SrilaPrabhupada began to speak
to the assembled devotees in Mathura. On SrilaPrabhupada’s instruction,
Srimad Bhakti Vilasa Gabhasti-nemi Maharaja sang the
prayer 'Hari Hari Ara Kabe Palatibe Dasa' from
SrilaNarottama dasa
ThakuraMahasaya’s collection of
poems called Prarthana. At that time,
Sri
DevaprasadaSarvadhikari,
former Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University, arrived and,
after paying his regards to SrilaPrabhupada, sat down
amidst the gathering. SrilaPrabhupada proceeded to
explain this prayer of ThakuraMahasaya,
one line at a time…"

B. He wanted his highly qualified
disciples to inform the world about Rasa-lila in an
appropriate way

SrilaSarasvatiThakura
certainly forbade some beginners from hearing about Rasa-lila,
but his order could not have been for all devotees. For
example, one of his most renowned disciples is our diksa-guru,
Srila Prabhupada Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja. Our
SrilaPrabhupada is glorified by
the documentary's narrator, as well as in many of the
interviews in the documentary, as a pure devotee and perhaps
the greatest instrument of SrilaSarasvatiThakura in spreading pure
Krsna consciousness all over the world. If it were not for our
SrilaPrabhupada, most of the
world outside India (and even in
many places in India) would not
even know the name, what to speak of the glories, of
SrilaPrabhupadaBhaktisiddhantaSarasvatiThakura.

Srila
Prabhupada Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja wrote a summary study
of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, called "Krsna, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead." In that summary-study there
are six chapters concerning the amorous pastimes of
Sri SriRadha
and Krsna, including the Rasa-lila chapters. On our
SrilaPrabhupada's order, the
Krsna book was distributed in many languages to millions of
fallen conditioned souls, and so many of them became devotees
of Lord Krsna.

It
could not have been a fact that SrilaBhaktisiddhantaSarasvatiPrabhupada prohibited our
Guru Maharaja from discussing Rasa-lila with his peers, or
with those of his choice. The pure devotees' choice is the
choice of Sri
Krsna Himself.

C. His most renowned preacher supports
appropriate hearing of Rasa-lila

The
following are some quotes from Srila Prabhupada Bhaktivedanta
Swami Maharaja's translations and purports of
Srimad-Bhagavatam and Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, as
well as from his other books. The essence of his statements is
that one should hear rasa-katha from proper authority – not
from mayavadis, sahajiyas or professional reciters. One should
not imitate the Lord's pastimes or think oneself artificially
advanced or perfect, but one should respectfully hear from
authority. Regarding hearing Rasa-lila, he writes:

"Discussion of the Rasa-lila among people in general is
not recommended because they are affected by the Mayavada
philosophy, but if one who is advanced explains and people
hear from him, certainly the hearers will be gradually
elevated to the position of Krsna consciousness and liberated
from materially contaminated life….Sukadeva Gosvami concludes
this episode of Rasa-lila by pointing out that if a person
hears from the right source the pastimes of Krsna, who is
Visnu Himself, and the gopis, who are expansions of His
energy, then he will be relieved from the most dangerous type
of disease, namely lust. In other words, one who actually
hears the Rasa-lila will become completely freed from the
lusty desire of sex life and elevated to the highest level of
spiritual understanding." (Krsna, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Chapter 33)

"According to CaitanyaMahaprabhu, the chapters
of the Srimad-Bhagavatam describing the Rasa-lila are not
meant for ordinary persons; they are meant for liberated
persons only. Therefore these descriptions of the Rasa-lila
should not be described to ordinary people. Those who are
advanced devotees, liberated from material contamination, can
try to understand Krsna’s Rasa-lila. One must not try to
imagine the Rasa-lila of Radha and Krsna in mundane
terms.

"But
even though ordinary hearers of Srimad-Bhagavatam do not know
the deep significance of Krsna’s Rasa-lila, because they hear
about Krsna’s pastimes they become purified. And if they hear
from authorized sources, they will be promoted to the
transcendental devotional platform. The disease within the
heart is lust, the desire to enjoy, and by hearing from
authorized sources about Krsna’s pastimes of loving exchanges
with the gopis, the deep-rooted lusty desires in the heart
will be completely eradicated.

"Unfortunately, most people do not hear the
Srimad-Bhagavatam from authoritative sources. They hear only
from professional reciters. Therefore they remain materially
diseased, full of lusty desires. Some become sahajiya,
pretending to be Krsna and Radharani and Her gopi friends. In
this way they behave as if they were the supreme enjoyer." (A
Second Chance, Chapter 16)

"The
conditioned soul should hear the Rasa-lila dance from an
authorized spiritual master and be trained by him so that he
can understand the whole situation. Thus one can be elevated
to the highest standard of spiritual life; otherwise one will
be implicated. Material lust is a kind of heart disease, and
to cure the material heart disease of the conditioned soul, it
is recommended that one should hear, but not from the
impersonalist rascals. If one hears from the right sources
with right understanding, then his situation will be
different." (Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Chapter 33)

"The
Lord is so merciful that He Himself descends to take the
fallen souls back home to the Kingdom of Godhead, where the
erotic principles of Godhead are eternally relished in their
real form, distinct from the perverted sexual love so much
adored and indulged in by the fallen souls in their diseased
condition. The reason the Lord displays the Rasa-lila is
essentially to induce all of the fallen souls to give up their
diseased morality and religiosity, and to attract them to the
kingdom of God to enjoy the reality. A person who actually
understands what is Rasa-lila will certainly hate to indulge
in mundane sex life." (Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 4.30
purport)

"The
specific attraction of His pastimes with the gopis should
never be misunderstood. The Bhagavatam relates these
transcendental pastimes in the Tenth Canto. And in order to
reach the position to understand the transcendental nature of
Lord Krsna’s pastimes with the
gopis, the Bhagavatam promotes the student gradually in nine
other cantos." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.28 purport)

In
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
(Adi-lila 4.34) SrilaKrsnadasaKavirajaGosvami quotes from
Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.33.36) on this
subject:

anugrahaya bhaktanam manusam deham asthitah

bhajate
tadrsih krida yah srutva tat-paro bhavet

"Krsna
manifests His eternal, human-like form and performs His
pastimes to show mercy to the devotees. Having heard such
pastimes, one should engage in service to Him."

In his purport
to this verse, Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada writes the
following:

"…The rasa dance is arranged by Krsna’s internal
potency yogamaya, and it is beyond the grasp of the materially
affected person. Trying to throw mud into transcendence with
their perversity, the sahajiyas misinterpret the sayings
tat-paratvena nirmalam and tat-paro bhavet. By misinterpreting
tadrsih kridah, they want to indulge in sex while pretending
to imitate Lord
Krsna. But one must
actually understand the imports of the words through the
intelligence of the authorized Gosvamis. SrilaNarottama dasa Thakura, in
his prayers to the Gosvamis, has explained his inability to
understand such spiritual affairs:

rupa-raghunatha-pade hoibe akuti

kabe
hama
bujhabo se yugala-piriti

"'When I shall be eager to understand the literature
given by the Gosvamis, then I shall be able to understand the
transcendental love affairs of Radha and Krsna.'

"In other words, unless one is trained under the
disciplic succession of the Gosvamis, one cannot understand
Radha and Krsna…" (Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 4.34,
Purport)

In
the above purport, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
writes that one must hear these transcendental subjects, but
not from those who will misinterpret. He translates the next
verse, as follows:

"Here the use of the verb 'bhavet,' which is in the
imperative mood, tells us that this certainly must be done.
Noncompliance would be abandonment of duty."
(Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 4.35, Purport)

D. He taught: Do hear; don't imitate

SrilaSarasvatiThakura is a
pure follower of his predecessor acaryas. His view is exactly
the same as theirs. He would therefore never contradict their
words and make a blanket statement saying not to hear
rasa-katha. Rather, he would make a blanket statement not to
imitate.His disciple, our
SrilaPrabhupada,
writes:

"One should not be misled by mental
concoctions, supposing his material body to be perfect and
deeming oneself a sakhi. This is something like
ahangrahopasana, that is, a Mayavadi's worship of his own body
as the Supreme. SrilaJivaGosvamihas cautioned mundaners to abstain from such
conceptions. He also warns that thinking oneself one of the
associates of the Supreme without following in the footsteps
of the gopis is as offensive as thinking oneself the Supreme.
Such thinking is an aparadha. One has to practice living in
Vrndavana by hearing about the talks of the gopis with Krsna.
However, one should not consider himself a gopi, for this is
offensive." (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 8.204-5
purport)

"In
other words, those who are not isvara, the Supreme Lord, who
are powerless and subjected to karma, should never imitate the
Lord’s pastimes even within their minds. If anyone foolishly
imitates Lord Siva by drinking the poison generated from the
ocean, he will certainly be destroyed."

In the Introduction
to his translation and commentary of Venu-gita, Srila
Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja summarizes the commentaries of
SrilaJivaGosvami and
SrilaVisvanathaCakravartiThakura, as
follows:

"The
gist of Srila Jiva Gosvami’s and Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti
Thakura’s commentaries on this verse is that living entities
who are subservient to the material body and who are anisvara
– bereft of the controlling potency of the Supreme Lord –
should never behave in such a way even within their minds.
What to speak of actually performing such activities, one
should not even desire to do so. In other words, such acts
performed by God in transgression of religious codes should
not be contemplated even within the mind...

"Here
in this verse, imitation of such behavior has been prohibited,
yet in the verse to come (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.33.36.) – Yah
srutva tat-paro bhavet – it is evident that not only devotees
but even others who faithfully hear these pastimes will become
fully devoted to the Supreme Lord. This has been further
explained in the verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam
(10.33.39)."

E. His authorities comment on hearing
Rasa-lila

Srila
Jiva Gosvami, who is one of the worshipful siksa-gurus of
SrilaSarasvatiThakuraPrabhupada, comments in
his VaisnavaTosani on the
above-mentioned Srimad-Bhagavatam verse about Rasa-lila
(10.33.36):

"The
words anugrahaya bhaktanam manusam deham asthitah indicate that the Supreme
Lord Sri Krsna appears in His original human-like form and
performs various pastimes in order to bestow favor upon His
devotees.

"Sri Krsna manifests all these
pastimes to benefit the devotees. By so doing, even ordinary
persons (other than the devotees) who hear even the more
common of the Lord’s pastimes become fully intent upon the
Lord. Therefore, by hearing the supremely ambrosial Rasa-lila,
ordinary persons will certainly become exclusively devoted to
the Lord – of this there can be no doubt. This fact will be
elaborately discussed in subsequent verses such as vikriditam
vraja-vadhubhir idam ca visnoh (Srimad-Bhagavatam
10.33.39).

"The words manusam deham asthitah may also indicate that
those jivas who have attained the human form of life are able
to hear all these pastimes, and thus they become exclusively
devoted to the Supreme Lord. This is so because the Lord
incarnates exclusively on the earthly planets (martya-loka),
and it is here only that worship of the Lord takes on its
predominant form. Consequently, the human beings residing on
the earthly planets may easily hear these narrations of the
Lord’s pastimes.

"The
word bhaktanam appears in this verse. But in some other
editions, the word bhutanam is found in its place. In that
case, the purport would be as follows: the Lord incarnates
only for the sake of the devotees. As a result, the devotees
are the root cause of the Lord’s appearance. The Lord also
appears in His original human-like form in order to bestow His
favor upon the liberated souls (muktas), the aspirants for
liberation (mumuksus), sense enjoyers (visayis), and all
living entities in accordance with their relationship with the
devotees.

"The
Lord’s compassion is therefore said to be the cause of His
appearance. Nevertheless, it must be understood that the
Lord’s favor toward other living entities is due only to their
relationship with His devotees. In other words, the Lord
bestows favor upon jivas only because of their connection with
devotees." (Venu-gita, Introduction, Srila Narayana
Maharaja)

Regarding the same verse (10.33.36) beginning
'anugrahaya bhaktanam', SrilaVisvanathaCakravartiThakura – also the
worshipful siksa-guru of SrilaBhaktisiddhantaSarasvatiThakura – has
commented:

"The
Lord performs varieties of pastimes to show favor to His
devotees. Having adopted the human form of life, living
entities who hear these pastimes become exclusively devoted
unto the Lord. In other words, they develop firm faith in
hearing the narrations of the Lord’s activities. What more
shall I say about the importance of hearing lila-katha?

"And
this Rasa-lila, being fully imbued with madhurya-rasa, is
eminently distinguished even from the Lord’s other pastimes.
Like a jewel, a mantra, or a powerful medicine, this Rasa-lila
is endowed with such indisputable, astonishing potency that by
hearing it, all persons in the human form become devoted to
the Supreme Lord. Therefore all varieties of devotees who hear
the descriptions of these pastimes will be successful and
obtain supreme pleasure. Can there be any question of doubt in
this regard?" (Venu-gita, Introduction, Srila Narayana
Maharaja)

F. SrilaSukadevaGosvami supports hearing
Rasa-lila

SrilaSukadevaGosvami tells
King Pariksit:

vikriditam vraja-vadhubhir idam ca visnoh

sraddhanvito 'nusrnuyad atha
varnayed yah

bhaktim
param bhagavati pratilabhya kamam

hrd-rogam asv apahinoty acirena
dhirah

"A
transcendentally sober person who, with faith and love
continuously hears from a realized soul about the activities
of Lord Krsna
in His rasa dance with the gopis, or one who describes such
activities, can attain full transcendental devotional service
at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus
lusty material desires, which are the heart disease of all
materialistic persons, are for him quickly and completely
vanquished." (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 10.33.39)

Srila Prabhupada Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja comments
on this verse:

"But actually, sastra says if one hears Rasa-lila, then
lusty desires will be finished: vikriditam idam ca visnoh
vraja-vadhubhir…hrd-rogam asv apahinoty acirena dhirah. That
is the result. If one actually hears from the right source,
then this lusty desire of sex life will be finished. No
more."(Room Conversation,
Vrndavana, September 11, 1974)

SrilaSarasvatiThakuraPrabhupada is the faithful
follower of SrilaVisvanathaCakravartiThakura. SrilaCakravartiThakura writes in his
Srimad-Bhagavatam commentary on this same
verse:

"…The suffix ktva has
been used in the formation of the verb pratilabhya (obtained)
as follows: prati + labh + ktva. According to the rules of
Sanskrit grammar, when the suffix ktva is applied to a verbal
root with a prefix, it is replaced by yap. Then the letter 'p'
is dropped and thus the final form of the word 'pratilabhya'
is obtained. The suffix ktva is applied to the first of the
two verbs performed by the same agent to show successive
action (i.e., having attained prema he relinquishes all lusty
desires in the heart). In this case the first action is
pratilabhya (the attainment of prema) and the second action is
apahinoti (renunciation of lusty desires of the heart).

"Therefore the suffix ktva in the verb
pratilabhya indicates that although lust and other evils still
remain within the heart, prema-bhakti first enters the heart
and, by its extraordinary influence, destroys all vices to the
root. In other words, hearing and reciting Rasa-lila possesses
such astonishing power that the lust in the heart of the
faithful sadhaka is destroyed and he attains prema. Though
these two take place simultaneously, the influence of prema
manifests first, and through its effect, all lusty desires of
the heart are dissipated.

"Thus,
as a result of hearing and chanting the narrations of the
Lord’s pastimes, one first attains prema for the Lord’s lotus
feet and thereafter one’s heart is liberated from lusty
desires and all other contamination. In other words he becomes
perfectly pure, because prema is not feeble like the process
of jnana and yoga. Bhakti is omnipotent and supremely
independent." (Venu-gita, Introduction, Srila Narayana
Maharaja)

Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada states that the
listener can be bona fide, even with lusty desires still in
his heart:

"If a
bona fide listener hears of Krsna’s pastimes with the gopis,
which seem to be lusty affairs, the lusty desires in his
heart, which constitute the heart disease of the conditioned
soul, will be vanquished, and he will become a most exalted
devotee of the Lord." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.1.30
purport)

Our SrilaPrabhupada does not state
that one who has anarthas should not hear. Rather, he states
that one should not hear from mayavadis and professional
reciters:

"And
bhaktim param bhagavati pratilabhya kama. This is the result. Not
that after hearing Rasa-lila, ‘Oh, let me imitate. Let me also
dance with young girls and enjoy.’ This is going on. Rascal
mayavadis they do that. Perhaps you know. There are so many
instances. But actually, the result will be this hrd-rogam
kamam acirena dhirah. No more desire." (Lecture,
Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.9, Vrndavana, October 31, 1976)

"The
pleasure potency is called SrimatiRadharani. The attraction
of loving affairs on the basis of sex feeling is the original
feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We, the
conditioned souls, being part and parcel of the Supreme, have
such feelings also, but they are experienced in a perverted
minute condition. Therefore, when those who are after sex-life
in this material world hear about Krsna’s pastimes with the
gopis, they will relish transcendental pleasure although it
appears to be materialistic. The advantage will be that they
will gradually be elevated to the spiritual platform. In the
Bhagavatam it is stated that if one hears the pastimes of
Lord Krsna
with the gopis from authorities, with submission, then he will
be promoted to the platform of transcendental loving service
to the Lord, and the material disease of lust within his heart
will be completely vanquished. In other words, such hearing
will counteract material sex-life." (Krsna, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Introduction)

"The
word dhira means pandita, or one who is learned in the sastra.
One who refuses to accept the claim of this verse and thinks,
'As long as the disease of lust remains in the heart, prema
cannot be obtained,' is said to possess an atheistic
temperament. One who is free from such a foolish, atheistic
demeanor is known as pandita or sober person (dhira).
Consequently, only those who have firm faith in the sastra are
known as dhira. Those who have no faith in the statements of
the sastra are atheistic and offenders to the holy name. Such
persons can never attain prema.

"Therefore, only faithful sadhakas with
firm belief in the statements of sastra, Guru and Vaisnavas
are eligible to hear the lila-katha of Srimad-Bhagavatam,
which is saturated with rasa. And conversely, those who
believe that only sadhakas who are completely free from all
anarthas are eligible to hear the above-mentioned pastimes,
will neither become free from anarthas nor obtain eligibility
to hear – even after millions of births." (Venu-gita,
Introduction, Srila Narayana Maharaja)

Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja comments as
follows in the Introduction to his translation of
Venu-gita:

"Consequently, in the heart of the
sadhakas who firmly believe in the statements of the sastra,
faith arises by hearing Rasa-lila and other narrations. Only
in the hearts of such faithful devotees does prema manifest
its influence as a result of hearing lila-katha. Thereafter,
lust and all evils present within the heart of the devotees
are destroyed to the root."

H. All GaudiyaVaisnavas believe in this
verse

The
Introduction continues:

"….Another point to consider is that if
this argument is accepted (that one has to be free of anarthas
before hearing lila-katha), then we sadhakas who are still
affected by anarthas, although possessing faith, could never
read nor hear the sacred books of rasika Gaudiya Vaisnava
acaryas like Srila Sanatana Gosvami, Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila
Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.
Under such a circumstance, we would be forever deprived of the
extremely confidential and elevated truths of bhakti expressed
by these acaryas. There would be no possibility that the
sprout of greed for raganuga-bhakti would ever be awakened in
our hearts. Thus we would be forever cheated from that which
was not previously given, the prema-rasa of the most
munificent Sri
Sacinandana, the bestower
of krsna-prema. What then would distinguish the
Sri
GaudiyaVaisnavas who have taken
shelter of Sri
CaitanyaMahaprabhu from Vaisnavas
of other sampradayas?"

Self-realized Gurus are the asraya-vigraha manifestations of
Lord Krsna
Himself. Therefore they have the power and right to know to
whom to speak. In 1968, in Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada’s lecture to
relatively new devotees on the appearance day of
SrimatiRadharani, he spoke about
the Lord’s pleasure potency:

"So we have described about the Radha-Krsna loving
affairs in our Teachings of Lord Caitanya in page 264. If you
have got this book, you can read it, how the reciprocation of
loving affairs of Radha-Krsna is there,
transcendental."

I. Who will say not to hear?

The
following is an excerpt from a lecture given by Srila Narayana
Maharaja in Wales, in July of
2000:

"There are four ways to tell others not to read Tenth
Canto. The first is in ignorance. Elevated and high-class
devotees know all the reasons why CaitanyaMahaprabhu descended to
this world. Do you know why He came? If you are not reading
and hearing the Tenth Canto Srimad-Bhagavatam you cannot know.
You will be cheated of this knowledge. So you should try to
hear Srimad-Bhagavatam from elevated Vaisnavas. Do not think,
as some devotees may tell you, that we should not read the
Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam.

"Good devotees know everything, and they may tell you
in the second way: 'You should begin from the First Canto,
then the Second, the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and thus you can go
there.'

"The
third way is to cleverly create curiosity. How will they do
so? They will say: 'What is in my hands? Can you tell me what
I have in my hands?' Others then become curious to know. If
anyone tells you: 'Do not read the Tenth Canto of the
Srimad-Bhagavatam!' this curiosity may come automatically:
'What is there? I should know that!' In order to increase
others' curiosity to hear and read Srimad-Bhagavatam, devotees
speak like this.

"In the
fourth way the speaker is speaking exactly the opposite of
what he means. When Srila Rupa Gosvami writes, 'Don't go to
the banks of the Jamuna where Govinda is sweetly playing on
His flute, because then you'll forget all about your society,
friendship and love,' he means, 'Do go.' For all these
reasons, devotees tell these things.

"There
was a devotee in my village who used to go to the Ganges river to
take bath daily. Whenever someone came and called out to him,
'Rama! Rama!' he acted like he was furious. Taking his stick,
he looked like he wanted to beat that person. Why did he do
so? And why did all the boys from all the villages call out to
him in this way? Whenever they said, 'Rama! Rama!' he would
pretend to beat them. Why did he do so? In order to make them
chant, 'Rama! Rama!' It was a kind of fun for them.

"If
anyone is telling that you should not read the
Srimad-Bhagavatam, there should be a curiosity to know what is
inside: 'There must be some jewel
there.'

"Without hearing and reading, especially
without hearing the Tenth Canto Srimad-Bhagavatam, you cannot
decide the aim and object of your devotional life. On the
other hand, by hearing the Tenth Canto, greed may come to
attain that object."

Self-realized Gurus are the asraya-vigraha
manifestations of Lord Krsna Himself. Therefore
they have the power and right to know to whom to speak. In
1968, in Srila
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s lecture to
relatively new devotees on the appearance day of
SrimatiRadharani, he spoke about
the Lord’s pleasure potency:

"So we have described about the Radha-Krsna loving
affairs in our Teachings of Lord Caitanya in page 264. If you
have got this book, you can read it, how the reciprocation of
loving affairs of Radha-Krsna is there,
transcendental."